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Now then…

It's hard to believe we're here. It's Constructive Possession's final chapter! I've had fun with Neji and Shikamaru in this AU. And even though additional fics set in this AU are pending, saying goodbye to those two as the primary pairing is hard.

*sigh* they've grown so much, haven't they? From partners at work, to partners in life and love. Neji's love for Shikamaru gave the word an entirely new meaning for the Nara. Shikamaru's love for Neji gave the Hyuuga the courage to own all of his feelings. Together they faced annoying colleagues, bizarre relatives and their own personal demons. Through it all, they nurtured their relationship with each other with patience, passion and unconditional loyalty.

I have received a number of reviews from readers who laud my ability to convey the devotion between the two geniuses. My response to those is that there is really not much effort on my part. Kishimoto-sama did most of the work in creating these two fine characters. I wrote them into a series of AU fanfics together. The rest was just…magic.

And now, without further ado, the final act—Constructive Possession, chapter 28.

Warning: language; humor; WAFF; yaoi

It was Neji who awoke first. The room slowly came into focus as he opened his eyes. He tried to take a deep breath, only to find his effort hampered by the weight of a warm, naked sleeping body lying halfway across his own.

The smell of their cum and musk filled his nose. He looked at the sleeping man, remembering a similar moment six weeks before, and smiled. Even though he had been on top, Shikamaru still wound up unconscious.

The events of the previous evening flooded Neji's mind. Mmm, he thought to himself, that was incredible. And it had been. Shikamaru had held him, caressed him, whispered words of love and caring into his ear, and even kissed away rogue tears—

When he hadn't been teasing his prostate or pounding hell into him with a cock the length of a standard ruler.

Neji was confident the experience had been a first for both of them, one he definitely meant to have again and again.

He made a larger, tentative movement and was shocked by the blunt pain he felt as a result.

"Ah!" he choked out from a raw throat, his eyes flashing. At once he became aware of soreness all over his body. He couldn't even lift his arm! He tried moving his head to one side but his body railed against the effort. The light from numbers on the digital clock sitting on the nightstand danced before his eyes.

2:17 A.M.

It was still dark. Neji couldn't move, and even if he could, he was still tired and very sore.

And Shikamaru just looked so at peace lying there on top of him. How could Neji even think of waking him?

Resigning himself to a few more hours of contented sleep in a warm half-cocoon beneath his love, Neji moved his head back gingerly and closed his eyes to consciousness once again.

Morning came all too soon for the Nara. He opened his eyes to find himself where he last remembered being--on top of his long-haired lover. He smiled despite the soreness he felt.

Shikamaru moved his head to look at Neji. He couldn't see his face, but felt the blinking of his lover's eyelids.

"You're awake", Neji uttered weakly, and Shikamaru smiled. He could hear that the strain from last evening's shouts of pleasure had taken their toll on the Hyuuga's voice.

"I am now. Are you all right?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, my throat is raw. I can't feel my legs. It hurts to move my arms." Neji blinked again. "Other than that, I'm fine."

"Now you know my pain." Shikamaru eased himself off of Neji as carefully as possible. He was in a considerable amount of pain himself.

Luckily for them both, he could still function.

Shikamaru positioned himself next to Neji on the bed, checking him for bruises, scratches or blood. There were some small bruises on his hips from what he could tell. He would complete his assessment when it was time to move the Hyuuga.

Neji looked into his lover's eyes, seeing the concern in them. "Good morning", he spoke, smiling.

"Good morning, Neji", Shikamaru responded. "I'm going to run your bath, okay?"

The Nara didn't wait for a response. He moved off the bed and went into the bathroom to prepare a bath for his Neji.

After the bath was ready, Shikamaru returned to the bedroom. Neji wrapped arms that were painful to move but still movable around the Nara's throat, and Shikamaru hauled him into the bathroom on his back. The Nara managed to get them both into the bathtub side-by-side without further injury. It was all very strenuous.

They stayed together that way for awhile, the hot water washing them clean and soothing their aching muscles. When Shikamaru felt better he got out of the tub, leaving Neji to soak a bit longer while he took care of a few details.

Shikamaru dried himself off and dressed in a pair of clean black sleeping pants and slippers. He got a glass of water and aspirin from the bathroom and set them on the nightstand. He contemplated making a light breakfast, and then remembered that he'd have to go back into the kitchen.

The same kitchen where his parents had had sex the night before.

Shikamaru made a face then. I'll change the sheets first, he thought to himself, moving to attend to the task.

Shikamaru surveyed the bedroom. There were clothes strewn about the floor. The bed was total chaos. And the room reeked of man-sex. "Nothing unusual here", he said aloud.

He created a pile of laundry from the clothes on the floor and the sheets on the bed to be handled later. He retrieved the clean custom sheets from the linen closet and put them on the bed. It was a good thing that Neji had lots of extra bedding, since they had to change the sheets so frequently.

The pair did keep the bed rocking. They shared a powerful mutual attraction for each other. Shikamaru often wondered how he'd functioned before he and Neji became lovers. He could hardly remember a day in the past six weeks where they hadn't taken sexual pleasure in each other, usually more than once each day. And now, Shikamaru didn't think he could live without it. He needed to feel Neji's hair flowing between his fingers and he needed to smell Neji's skin and he had to know the feeling of being taken by the powerful man.

Last night, though, Shikamaru had come to know a different feeling. A new sensation. One that had blown his mind. It was magnificent! He'd never felt anything like it before. The Nara was sure he would remember Neji's squeals of pleasure until he breathed his last breath.

The Hyuuga had definitely been into it—Shikamaru didn't have to wonder. He'd never seen or heard Neji so wanton before last night. The memory did strange things to Shikamaru's mind.

Yes, I am a stallion, he thought to himself, smiling brightly. Topping was certainly an experience he meant to repeat, if for no other reason than to hear Neji squeal for him again.

Shikamaru smoothed the sheet down over the bed, surveying the results. It was ready. He walked over to the window then, opening it to let fresh air into the room.

It was nearly 11 in the morning and the sun was high in a cloudless blue sky. Shikamaru looked heavenward, thinking to himself that it was an especially beautiful day.

He turned away from the window and went to bring his lover in from the bathtub.

Ten minutes later, a clean, dry, naked Neji was lying on his stomach in the large bed, arms folded beneath his head while his body from his chest down was covered in cool, clean sheets. Shikamaru stood next to the bed where the older man lay, watching him. Neji scowled in response. He had dutifully taken the aspirin. He had to; his muscles were still sore and he had only regained some of his mobility. It was clear to both men that he would need the day to recover well enough to walk around without a blatant limp the next morning—if he went in to work at all.

Damn Shikamaru and all his energy and his fearsome 12-inch cock. "I think you broke me", Neji remarked.

Shikamaru stood, hands on hips, and quirked a brow. "Hey, I was only following orders."

Neji turned his head away from the Nara, laying it on top of his folded arms. Even in so much pain his body was responding to the delicious sight of the man standing next to the bed. Sometimes it just didn't make sense.

"Come on now, don't pout", Shikamaru pleaded. "Just lie there and recuperate. I'll take care of you."

"Recuperate? I'm not invalid", Neji responded with petulance. "Besides, you 'took care of me' last night, that's why I'm lying here."

"But you begged me not to stop. What kind of man would I be to have ignored such an emphatic request?"

Shikamaru got up on the bed then, crawling over Neji's covered form to lie beside him. He lay on his side on top of the sheet, facing the long-haired man and sighing deeply.

Neji remembered the previous evening and smiled at his lover in spite of himself. "You were amazing, you know."

"Was I?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes. I fell in love with you all over again." Neji hesitated, and then continued. "You put me to shame; I'll have to up my game now."

"I wasn't aware we were competing."

"We're not. But I need to be able to take care of you as well as you take care of me."

Shikamaru snorted. "By the time you're through with me I'm usually in a coma, what are you worried about?" He reached out with a hand and grabbed a lock of the Hyuuga's damp hair, which lay in a heavy cloak across Neji's shoulders, twirling it around his finger. "If you up your game it might kill me."

Neji chuckled. "If you say so."

"So…did your uncle seem all right when he called last night?" Shikamaru asked.

"Oh, he was fine", Neji responded. "He wanted to know how we were but he made us an offer too."

"An offer?"

"Mmm. It seems he wants to use this place regularly from now on."

"For what? Doesn't he own several properties?"

"Yes, he does. But you know he's the one who picked this place, and then he encouraged me to purchase it instead of purchasing it himself. Even though I've been sharing it with him, I think he may regret that decision now."

"So what's the trade-off?"

"In exchange…he wants to buy us a place to live together."

"A place for us to live together?" Shikamaru asked.

"Mmm", Neji responded. "If you want."

Shikamaru pondered Neji's announcement. No matter how they worked it, living together would solidify the pair as a couple outside of work in the eyes of their employers, he was sure. While the risk for the wealthy Hyuuga would be negligible, Shikamaru would be risking the end of his career.

Shikamaru loved his work. He was one of the best special investigators the Konoha Police Department had ever had. He'd celebrated a number of successes in his short career, not the least of those was having been partnered with the man laying next to him at that moment, the man who had become the undisputed love of his life.

Shikamaru and Neji were together now, and their relationship was easily one of the most important things in the younger man's life.

He was no longer concerned about the potential damage to his career. He was not ashamed of his relationship with the Hyuuga. He meant what he'd told his father the night before: he wasn't about to leave Neji for anything, and he believed that Neji would stay with him no matter what happened. The pair would go on pretending for the sake of their work, but Shikamaru already knew in his heart that as long as he had Neji by his side he could live without being a special investigator anymore if he had to.

It came to him so simply, so easily. The Nara decided he liked the feeling of resolve that came with loving someone without fear.

"Yes. I do", Shikamaru finally answered. "I love the thought of not having to leave you. The real question is, is that what you want?"

Neji furrowed his brows. "Why do you think that I wouldn't? We're practically together all the time now, and you haven't heard me complaining."

"I know. It's just that after last night with my parents I wanted to be sure."

Neji made a face then. "Shikamaru, honestly. Your parents are no worse than my uncle."

"Hey, your uncle didn't have sex in a car in your garage before dinner, and then in your kitchen after dinner last night, Neji."

"Well, it wasn't for lack of trying. If my uncle thought he could get it he might have been ass-up in my kitchen along with your mother."

Shikamaru chuckled. It was good to be able to laugh about what was undoubtedly a strange situation.

Neji continued. "At any rate, I think it's safe to say they all belong together."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes, don't you?"

"I do, but…I wondered if you would be all right with this 'thing' between my parents and your uncle. I mean, it's sort of bizarre."

"Well…I do worry about my uncle. I don't want him to be hurt. But he's a grown man, and the bottom line is he knows better than we do what he's getting into. Besides, I think your father is as hooked into this as my uncle is."

"I'll say. I've never seen him riled like that over anyone but my mother." Shikamaru met and held Neji's eyes with his own then. "What is it about the Hyuuga men that continues to bring the Nara men to their knees?" he asked.

"You ask me that after reducing me to tears last night?" Neji responded. "Besides it's my uncle who's been after your father for seven years, remember?"

"True, but last night my father cracked. He couldn't fight it anymore." Shikamaru 'painted' the Hyuuga's face with the ends of the man's own hair. "We're all weak for Hyuuga men, even the most stubborn of us."

"That's not so bad, is it?" Neji asked his lover.

"Not if you're asking me", the Nara responded, smiling.

Neji bit his lip. "So does this mean I can tell my uncle that we accept his offer?"

"Well, that depends. Where is the new place going to be?"

"That will be for you and me to decide. My uncle will take care of the rest."

"That's very generous of him."

"Yes, and the best part is that you won't think of your father and mother in the throes of their passion each time you enter the kitchen in our new place."

"Ah, don't remind me. I still can't believe my parents did that."

"Nor can I, I mean where does a man his age get that kind of stamina?"

"Are you kidding? My father's a chemist. He knows ways of obtaining and maintaining a constant rate of stamina. It's a scary thing to contemplate; I don't know how my mother endures it, especially at her age."

"Well, she went two times in a three-hour period and I didn't hear her complaining. Maybe she's on whatever your father is on."

"I don't want to contemplate that either, especially now that your uncle has been cast into the equation."

"Yes, well, let's hope for his sake that he can even keep up. I think this new dynamic of theirs should definitely test the limits of his endurance." Neji hesitated, looking at his lover, and then continued. "It certainly tested mine last night."

Shikamaru stilled, his eyes on Neji's face. "And look at you this morning. You're glowing."

"Am I?" Neji asked.

"Yes", Shikamaru responded, leaning in to place a light kiss on Neji's lips. "You're beautiful."

Neji moved, trying to turn on his side beneath the sheet to face Shikamaru. The Hyuuga was enjoying their morning-after pillow talk with its accompanying kisses, and wanted more. He managed it with a grunt despite his body's protests.

The Hyuuga looked at Shikamaru. "Are you really going to move in with me?"

"Yes", the Nara responded. "And for the record, I intend to take you into the kitchen of our new place to christen it first thing. That way the only people I think of when I walk into it are you and me."

"Mmm", Neji responded. The thought of being taken against a kitchen counter or on the kitchen table with that long, hard cock made him very happy. Even his cock responded to the idea, twitching just a little.

Shikamaru smiled. "Are you really okay with my parents being with your uncle?"

Neji quirked a brow. "If I wasn't, would it matter? I don't think I could stop them anyway." Neji hesitated, and then continued. "Shikamaru, I saw with my own eyes the way your father fought to protect someone important to him last night. All craziness aside, I don't think my uncle could be in better hands."

Neji reached out a hand to cup the back of the Nara's head, bringing him closer. He leaned in and placed a lingering kiss on his lover's lips. "What is it about the Nara men that makes us Hyuuga men feel loved and protected?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't know, but I've never been happier to be counted among the Nara than I am at this moment."

He kissed his lover again; another lingering kissed that teased his tongue. They broke apart quickly, easily; content to have a taste of each other and not wanting to spoil their tender moment with pointless thrashing about. They both knew that Neji would be out of commission for the day.

The two men lay there, facing each other and smiling. In that moment they were both aware of the magnitude of the situation. Two families—Hyuuga and Nara—brought together by fate, forging an irrepressible destiny. Two cops, two chemists and a lawyer. Neither knew what more fate would bring them, only that they would face it together—as partners, as lovers, and as family.

THE END

A/N: Well…THAT'S A WRAP, PEOPLE! It's been some road trip, eh? If you've been with me since Kindred, THANK YOU! What do you think? Good/bad/so-so? Please leave a review with your thoughts.

I would like to especially thank my muse and beta sonotgoingthere for her kind indulgence, and my devoted fan artists Kyuubi1010, crazyaanglover and rouge-trinity for their amazing fan art.

Readers, reviewers and the like, THANK YOU. I didn't have a goal when starting this other than to tell a story, and your support helped to make it much easier than it might have been otherwise.

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